Silence
by Miss Peg
Summary: Episode tag to the season 4 finale. When the day is done, Lisbon supports Jane and things take an unexpected turn. ONE-SHOT.


Author: Miss Peg  
Rating: T (closer to adult themes)  
Summary: Episode tag to the season 4 finale. When the day is done, Lisbon supports Jane and things take an unexpected turn.  
Disclaimer: I wish I owned the Mentalist and had a lot of money, then I could pay for it to be forever.  
Notes: Written for the Paint It Red monthly challenge, to the prompt: _All the words unspoken_ and for the Paint It Red prompt table C, prompt: _unfinished conversations_.

The sandy mound grew uncomfortable a long time ago but Lisbon didn't care. Her consultant needed someone, and as his boss, it was her job to look after him. Rigsby, Van Pelt and Cho had left hours ago; the FBI agents had finished their work on the limo and a tow truck had taken it away. Agent Wainwright's body had been removed and his family had been informed. Lorelei Martins had been arrested. The world had continued to move and yet Lisbon remained sat beside Jane, their hands twisted together until the sun began to set on the day.

'We should go,' she whispered, squeezing his hand gently and unlacing her fingers.

'Okay,' said Jane, not attempting to move from his spot.

Lisbon reached out a hand and he took it, shifting his weight onto her until he'd found his feet. They walked to the street and after a couple of stumbled steps Jane rested his arms around her shoulders and she allowed him to use her for support.

The drive back to Jane's motel was silent which made Lisbon think things she didn't much care for at that moment in time. They'd had a difficult day, which was quite an understatement, so she flicked on the radio and sent country music hurtling through the car. She didn't care much for the melodic tunes, but she got lost in the stories, in the sounds, anything to put to one side the feelings she wasn't yet ready to deal with.

Pulling up into the parking lot of the motel, Lisbon watched Jane, waiting for him to move. But he didn't.

'It's time to go home, Jane,' she assured him, but he just stared out of the window. 'We're at your motel.'

'I know where we are,' he said, his tone cold and empty.

'You need some rest.'

'I need to go to the office.'

Lisbon sighed, the weight of the world finding comfort on her shoulders. The rest of the team would have long since gone home. She expected Cho would have made sure they all completed reports on the events of their operation before they'd been allowed to return to their homes. As soon as she'd dropped Jane off, she planned to go back to the office herself.

'I'm not taking you there.'

'Why not? You're going.'

He knew her too well sometimes; he could read through her words and understand the things she didn't want to say. She wondered if he knew why she'd stayed with him for so long, had always been the one to take care of him.

'Please, Lisbon,' he said, his voice breaking ever so slightly as his brows furrowed above his soulful eyes.

'Okay.'

She put her foot down on the accelerator and slowly pulled out of the parking lot. The silence mattered less now that they were heading back to the office; she needed to process what had happened before she wrote her report. Even if her natural instinct was to put it off. Once the security guards allowed them into the premises, Lisbon led Jane back up to the office.

'Couch or attic?' she asked, as she went into the kitchenette in search of fresh coffee.

'Attic.'

A couple of hours later, having drank a cup of coffee and completed her report, Lisbon took her weary body up to the attic in search of her consultant.

'Jane?' she greeted him, knocking softly against the door.

'I'm not going home.'

'I didn't say you had to,' she replied, standing beside his makeshift bed. 'I thought we should talk about today.'

'No.'

Jane shifted his position, moving his legs until he was sat on the edge of the cot, his elbows resting on his knees. Lisbon sighed and perched beside him. She knew as well as anyone how easy it was to stay silent, to not talk about the things that needed to be said. She advocated it more in her own inability to talk about her feelings than she cared to and yet, she still expected her team to do as she said and not what she did herself.

'It's important.'

'What's important is catching Red John.'

'Of course.'

'There's nothing else to say.'

And with that, Lisbon closed her open mouth and ignored the words that had been building up in her mind. He was right; there was nothing else to say. They had plenty of things to talk through, moments that needed clarifying, a statement that Jane would need to produce. But all that had ever really mattered was catching Red John.

'Thank you,' he said softly, glancing into Lisbon's eyes, the honesty and intense expression coming from the man beside her made Lisbon's cheeks burn with the heat of unspoken words.

'I'm your boss.'

The remark sat in Lisbon's throat like distasteful medicine; it had been a long time since Lisbon did anything because she was his boss and she wondered if half the reason she'd said it at all was not because of the things they'd done that day but because of the things she could feel bubbling on the horizon. They both knew, had always known and that was what made it all the more a pointless thing to say. He didn't stop staring at her, his eyes forcing her to feel uncomfortable. She glanced up and in the briefest of seconds got lost in the meaning of his expression.

'I should let you sleep,' she whispered, though the words trailed off into the silence and neither of them moved.

Then Jane leant down and brushed her lips with his own, the briefest of touches filled with so much more. Lisbon's lips sat open, her eyes never wavering from their home on Jane's.

'Oh,' she gasped, though the word was enveloped in Jane's lips.

She closed her eyes and allowed Jane's mouth to move across hers before she accepted her fate and her lips followed his lead. She deepened the kiss, moaning softly against his touch as his fingers travelled along the sensitivity of her neck, replaced by hurried kisses.

Lisbon wrapped her arms around his shoulders, recapturing his lips as he pulled her closer, slipping his arms around her thighs as he lifted her up. Then he lowered her again and she could feel the soft blankets on his cot wrap around her shoulders.

Each kiss lasted longer than the one before, each touch tracing a little bit more skin each time until Lisbon gave in to Jane unbuttoning her shirt. He passed kisses along her stomach as she reached her hands across his chest, pushing aside the fabric and exploring the contours of his bare skin.

'I,' she began, but every word she could think of to say disappeared into the multitude of emotions, disguised by the electricity jumping between their bodies.

Jane's lips landed once more upon Lisbon's and she held his neck in position, not allowing him to pull away as she succumbed to the feelings she'd been too afraid to vocalise. But sometimes words were unnecessary; instead she opted for the soft groans as Jane pushed himself inside of her. There was no going back, no way that they could pretend that it hadn't happened and all Lisbon could think about was how right it felt as she let out a silent scream.


End file.
